


X-Ray

by Severina



Series: Alphabet Soup [24]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Community: 1_million_words, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severina/pseuds/Severina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He has only one thought -- <i>I should have been there to catch her</i> -- and then his magic is swirling around him and the shop disappears.  He focuses on her essence, the spark inside that makes her Belle, and is left standing at the curtained off partition to her cubicle in the emergency room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	X-Ray

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ's 1_million_words A to Z challenge for the prompt "X"
> 
> * * *

The bell above the door tinkles and he looks up eagerly from his ledger. They'd decided to meet in the evening at Granny's for Belle's much anticipated first hamburger, and Rumplestiltskin has watched the minutes tick by with agonizing slowness all morning. Maybe she has felt the same as she putters among the shelves in her library. Maybe she too has spent her hours darting glances at the clock and frowning when the hands seem frozen in place.

It is not above the realm of possibility for her to decide to stop in early. Perhaps to merely linger among the items she recognizes from their briefly shared time in the Dark Castle, to let her fingers drift among the baubles and trinkets and be reminded of her time spent among them, and with him? Or perhaps because she longs to be near him as much as he longs to be near her, and this enforced separation is ripping at her heart as much as it is destroying his?

He takes up his cane quickly and pushes past the curtain separating the work shop from the store, only to stop short. Instead of his Belle with her bright eyes and shining curtain of hair, he is faced with… a dwarf. The nasty little fellow with the beard. He feels the anticipatory gleam in his eyes turn hard and cold, and his lip curls.

"As I've already informed you," he says without preamble, "the goods that you claim to be yours were transported to this realm by _me_. If you wish to re-attain them, I will be glad to make you a generous… deal."

"This ain't about beer steins or woolen vests," the dwarf grunts out, living up to his name. "I wouldn't even set foot in this rotten place if I could avoid it."

"Then please," Rumplestiltskin says, already turning on his heel, "feel free to see yourself out."

He has accounts to check and double check for accuracy; late notices to inscribe in his precise handwriting and hand over to Dove to deliver. He has a clock on the shelf to methodically check every fifteen minutes. He has no time to waste on an odious dwarf and his ridiculous notions of ownership—

"Only I think that you deserve to be told, because she cares about you," the dwarf continues gruffly. "Though I'm never gonna understand why."

Rumplestiltskin freezes in place, his hand clenching on his cane. He takes a breath and schools his face into indifference before he turns back to the dwarf, forcing himself not to hurry. "This is about…" he begins, only to find that any attempt at feigning unconcern where Belle is involved is intrinsically impossible. The fact that he could not hide his feelings for her is the very reason she was taken, imprisoned, kept from him for so many years. He cannot even say her name aloud now for fear of calling down upon her some horrible fate.

"Belle," the dwarf fills in for him, "yeah. It's about Belle. She was cleaning one of the top shelves over at the library and she fell. We got her over to the hospital, and—"

Rumplestiltskin hears no more. He has only one thought -- _I should have been there to catch her_ \-- and then his magic is swirling around him and the shop disappears. He focuses on her essence, the spark inside that makes her Belle, and is left standing at the curtained off partition to her cubicle in the emergency room.

"Are you sure you don't feel any more pain?" Ruby is saying as he rushes forward.

"I've told you, I'm…" Belle's eyes flick toward the movement at the entranceway, and widen with surprise and what he believes – hopes – is pleasure. "Rumple!"

He doesn't remember pushing past the wolf. Belle's hand is suddenly simply pressed between his as his eyes sweep her body and his senses search within her for the source of her injury. He finds pulled muscles and bruised limbs but nothing life-threatening and his breath comes out in a shaky rush. "Sweetheart," he says, "are you—"

"I'm fine, Rumple," she says, before her eyes narrow. "How did you know I was here? You haven't been keeping tabs on me…"

"Of course not," he answers quickly. As though the idea had never occurred to him. As though he hadn't had to magically transport every mirror in the shop into the woods so that he would not be tempted to steal a quick look at her throughout the day. "The dwarf came to see me."

"Grumpy?" Her eyes soften then, and the hand that had been held limply in his curls into his palm. "You didn't have to rush over here, Rumple. I'm perfectly okay."

He knows that she is in no danger, yet there are still those bruises, those twisted muscles. "Are you sure? I can simply—" He releases her hand from his and calls upon his magic, the power tingling in his palm. 

"No," she says softly, and though he's disappointed he lets the magic ease back where it settles like a second skin upon his bones, wrapping itself up tight. He takes her hand again, relieved when she gives it a soft squeeze. "Dr. Whale did an… an X-ray?" She darts a glance to the wolf, who must indicate that Belle is correct because his love smiles brightly. "An X-ray," she repeats firmly, "which is the most fascinating piece of paper! And it showed that there are no broken bones. I'll just be a bit sore for a few days."

A bit sore. With only this world's little pills to ease the pain, when he could have her back to perfect health with just a wave of his hand! The thought of her suffering at all makes him nauseas. "But Belle—"

She pats his hand gently. "You can't be there to catch me all the time, Rumple."

He starts, turns guilty eyes to hers, and knows that she is remembering the same nailed-down curtains, the same tumble from a ladder that ought not to have been so tall nor so rickety. 

"I _can_ take care of myself, you know," she continues in a tone that matches the soft touch of her hand at his wrist. "Even if I am a little bit clumsy." 

He takes another breath, nods before letting her go. She is one of the bravest people he knows. But Belle is also a treasure, his love, and it is his job to protect her and keep her safe. He has failed at that miserably, in his Castle and since. He vows there and then that he will not fail her again.

And somewhere inside him, he feels the darkness laugh.


End file.
